The Joycast with special guest Coco Morante

In 2008, Robert Wang became the inventor of the Instant Pot—a simpler, safer version of the traditional pressure cooker. This one simple device can do so much: it’s a slow cooker, rice cooker, steamer, saute pan, yogurt maker, warming pot, and even bread maker, all-in-one.

If you look at the Amazon reviews, one of the most common words is “love”.

In a medium bowl, combine half of the onion, half the garlic, the ground beef, rice, salt, and pepper and mix with your hands until the rice is evenly distributed throughout the meat; don’t worry about over-mixing. Shape the mixture into 12 evenly sized meatballs, each slightly larger than a golf ball.

Select the saute setting on the Instant Pot and heat olive oil for 1 minute. Add the remaining onion and remaining garlic and saute for about five minutes, until the onion is softened. Stir in the tomato sauce, water, and Worcestershire and bring to a simmer. Place meatballs in a single layer in the pot and spoon a little sauce over each one.

Secure the lid and set Pressure Release to Sealing. Press the cancel button to reset the cooking program, then select Pressure Cook or Manual setting and set the cooking time for 15 minutes at high pressure. (The pot will take about 10 minutes to come up to pressure before the cooking program begins.)

When the cooking program ends, you can either perform a quick pressure release by moving the Pressure Release to Venting, or you can let the pressure release naturally and leave the pot on the Keep Warm Setting for up to 10 hours.

Serve the meatballs with the sauce spooned on top. Garnish with fresh herbs.